Abstract

In situtransmission electron microscopy tensile experiments were carried out to investigate lattice dislocation and twin boundary (TB) interaction in Cu with nanoscale growth twins. Results show that extended dislocations form inside thick twin lamellas and slip toward TBs. The extended dislocations shrink, combine, and redissociate when they pass through TBs, leaving behind detwinning partial dislocations at the TBs. The mechanism of the observed dislocation/TB interactions and the effect of the mechanism on mechanical properties are discussed.

Received 05 December 2008Accepted 26 December 2008Published online 15 January 2009

Acknowledgments:

The authors would like to thank Dr. X. Z. Liao for his extensive discussion with the authors on this work. This work was supported by the Hundred Talents Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50125103), and the Australian Research Council (Project ID: DP0772880).